Drip-type coffee makers often require the use of disposable paper filters that are placed within the brewing vessel of the coffee maker and that contain the coffee grounds used to brew the coffee. The disposable filter generally has corrugated shaped sides to help maintain the sidewall of,the filter in an upright position while the brewing takes place. If the sidewalls collapse, coffee grounds can escape from the filter and contaminate the coffee. It would be a benefit, therefore, to have a coffee filter retaining insert that may be placed within the coffee filter after it has been inserted within the brewing vessel. It would be a further benefit if the retaining insert had a mechanism that contacted the sidewall of the filter and urged it against the sidewall of the brewing vessel.
Another problem with brewing coffee is the depositing of the correct quantity of coffee within the filter. Although the number of scoops of coffee may provide an indication of the quantity of coffee required by a particular coffee maker to make a perfect pot of coffee, the level to which the scoop is filled is often a subjective call that can lead to too strong or weak coffee. It would be a benefit, therefore, to have a coffee level indicator, positionable by a user, that indicates the level to which the filter should be filled to produce a perfect pot of coffee.